Hi I'm new to forums and fish keeping so pardon my ignorance. I have a 29g with 2 firemouths (breeding pair) and 6 tiger barbs. I was wondering which would be better, a catfish or algae eater. I really don't want both. And I don't want schooling catfish either I don't have room. I was thinking about a feather fin squeaker or pleco. I'm leaning more towards catfish but I'd like a somewhat professional opinion. thanks!

The barbs are too much as it is, they like a lengthy tank to swim in. The firemouths should be in a larger tank as well. I have a breeding pair myself, they just had their 11th spawn hatch either last night or this morning but I digress and back to topic. I kept them in a 29 for a few months and they tore the heck out of each other. The female had no where to escape the male so when he irritated her, she turned the tables and attacked him. They are now in a 115g tank and still tear the heck out of each other.

They can get up to 6.5 inches once fully grown. A 29 is awfully cramped at that size.

Right now Petco has a $1.00 a gallon sale on all tanks up to 55g (at least mine does). Also check craigslist for people getting rid of them, usually very cheap. If you have the yahoo group freecycle in your area, try them as well. Everything on there is free or for trade.

okay thanks. I just talked to one of my friends with a 75g and they said theyd take my tiger barbs if my tank was too full..do you think giant danios would be better? I'd like fish that swim more towards the top so the cichlids wont be as aggressive and I'd also like schooling ones but if that won't work with the size of tank i have then what should i get?

You'd still be way over stocked considering the size of the firemouths once they're grown. You really shouldn't add anything to their tank until you can get a larger tank. Once you have a larger tank, the giant danios will be fine with the firemouths, they make great dither fish.